Chapter 5

There was a space drenched in blood.

The stale air held a strange heat that sat on the skin like an insult.

Behind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me lay a field of corpses, and all I could see ahead was a cliff’s edge dropping into nothing.

What had done that to them so horribly?

And.

Who was the one standing at the end of that cliff?

Just as my chest began to tighten from knowing nothing at all,

"I’ll ask you this."

The man in front of me spoke.

He was an old man with a full head of white hair, yet his body was still brutally powerful for his age.

The problem was this.

"Is the martial art you just showed me something you created yourself?"

Half his upper body was missing.

Blood kept spilling out without end. In a state where it would not have been strange if he had died long ago, the old man asked his question with complete calm.

Before him stood a young man with black hair covering his face. He looked at the old man and answered.

"Yes."

"...I see. So that was it after all."

The old man nodded.

"What is your name?"

"I haven’t decided yet."

"Then may I name you myself?"

"Do as you please."

"Heh, heh, heh..."

At the young man’s answer, the old man let out a laugh. Faint laughter escaped him, and blood welled at the corners of his mouth.

After laughing for a short while, the old man whispered,

"...Paecheon."

"Paecheon?"

"You smashed the heavens. There is no name more fitting than that."

Paecheon.

At the meaning and the name, the young man tilted his head. Then,

"I like it. I’ll use Paecheon."

He nodded and accepted it.

"Good..."

Drip, drip, drip.

Blood poured from the old man’s pierced torso.

"I, Baek Yeojeok, the twenty-first leader of the Divine Cult, acknowledge it..."

Leaving every corpse behind, the old man said to the young man,

"From this day on, you are the master of the world."

Thud.

The moment he finished speaking, his body collapsed in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on itself. The lifeless shell fell to the ground.

"Hmm..."

The young man looked down at the old man and spoke in a voice stripped of feeling.

"A shame."

What was he regretting? I couldn’t understand it.

And then.

"...!"

The young man’s gaze, which had been on the old man, suddenly turned to me.

My body went rigid. Gooseflesh rose along my back. Even with his eyes hidden by his hair, I somehow felt as if I were staring at a beast.

'What is it?'

Why was he looking at me all of a sudden? I couldn’t make sense of it, and before I realized it I was just standing there blankly.

"Now."

The man said,

"Wake up."

At that moment, my eyes flew open.

* * *

"Gah...!"

My eyelids snapped up and I came to my senses.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

I never thought I’d live long enough to say that, but it really was an unfamiliar ceiling.

'What the...'

Maybe because of the dream I’d just had, my heart was pounding hard against my ribs.

What was that? What had I just dreamed?

Too vivid to dismiss as a random nightmare, but too absurd to be reality.

What was this? My vision was blurred like fog, and my insides felt heavy and sick.

As I was trying to make sense of the strange sensation,

"...Ah."

Something I had forgotten came back to me.

'...The terror attack...!'

I remembered the building attack. I tried to push myself up at once, but

Tingling pain shot through me.

"Urk...!?"

My whole body screamed. An enormous wave of pain crashed down on me.

"Hah..."

It was so intense I couldn’t even manage a proper scream. I had to freeze, trembling.

'What the hell?'

Why did everything hurt this much? And.

'Where am I?'

I slowly looked around the unfamiliar space and understood.

'A hospital?'

I was inside a hospital. A rather upscale one, apparently. There was even an IV in my arm. In the quiet stillness, only the soft, intermittent beeping of monitors rang out.

Just as I was wondering why I was in a hospital in the first place,

Creaaak-

"...Oh my...!"

The door opened, and I met a nurse’s eyes.

"Ah, um."

I tried to say something to her.

"Doctor...! Mr. Lee Jinwoo is awake...!"

But before I could get a word out, she darted out in a panic.

"...Uh..."

I scratched the back of my head with an awkward hand.

Even then, my body still hurt.

* * *

"Are you feeling a bit better?"

"...Ah, yes..."

The doctor with a stethoscope examined my body from one side to the other. It was painfully uncomfortable. If there had only been one doctor, maybe, but there were several of them crowding around me.

"The trauma from the impact wasn’t severe. I don’t think you’ll even have much of a scar... and there shouldn’t be any lasting aftereffects either. You’re very lucky."

"...Yes. I guess so."

What was this kindness? It was the first time I’d ever felt anything like it.

"Oh, and also, um... our teacher."

"Superhuman Dan Ajin has also awakened without any issues."

"Ah."

That was a real relief. Only then could I finally let out a breath.

"...Even now, you’re thinking about someone else first. As expected."

"Pardon?"

"It’s nothing. Your treatment finished without any major problems, and from the state of your body, I’d say a few days of rest should be enough."

"Ah, yes..."

"Then I’ll see you again later."

The doctor bowed slightly and left. I winced. I should have asked why I was lying in such a luxurious room in the first place.

'...How much is the hospital bill here?'

I nearly panicked. I didn’t even have rent money due right now, so how was I supposed to pay for hospitalization and treatment?

"Excuse me...!"

I was just about to call the doctor back when,

"...You bastard."

"Ah."

Seeing the person who had come in after the doctor left, I understood the situation.

"Have you lost your damn mind? Do you really want to die?"

A man appeared with a face full of fury.

Jin Gyeongbeom, the only friend I could honestly call mine.

* * *

Jin Gyeongbeom. An aggravating connection.

We met when we were twelve, and from then until now he had always been glued to my side.

He was one of those people who stuck around for reasons of his own.

"Why the hell didn’t you answer your phone? Is it just decoration?"

"...I was busy. Busy."

"Like hell you were. Busy my ass. You always pick up when your teacher calls, so what kind of bullshit is that supposed to be?"

"...".

We’d been friends for years, but if you really wanted to be precise, he was the one paying more attention to me than necessary.

That had always been the case. He lived a completely different life from mine, and yet he worried over me with an odd, stubborn persistence.

"You insane bastard."

His mouth was filthy, though.

"What the hell were you thinking, crawling in there?"

"I mean..."

"Did awakening fry your brain, or were you already nuts to begin with? Ah, right, I knew you were never normal. I knew that already, but I didn’t think you were this bad."

"Wait-"

"Unless you’d truly gone off the deep end, there’s no way you’d crawl back into a building that was just hit by terrorism. You’re a crazy bastard."

"...Hold on."

I tried to stop him, but his mouth didn’t slow down for a second. It felt like my ears were bleeding.

"Keep going like this and you’re going to die. You get that? Do you?"

After that last line, he finally fell silent for a moment. Thank God.

"Haaah."

When I didn’t answer, Gyeongbeom let out a long sigh.

He dragged over the chair behind him and dropped into it.

"...You awakened, huh."

"Yeah."

"So you really did it. I thought it wouldn’t happen."

"Seems that way."

"You ridiculous bastard... so the first thing you do after awakening is that?"

"I didn’t do it because I wanted to. Who could’ve known there’d be a terror attack there?"

My weak attempt at an excuse made Gyeongbeom scowl.

"Bullshit. The attack happened, sure, but going in there was your choice. Wasn’t it?"

"...".

He was right, so I couldn’t argue.

"Idiot."

It was an irritated word.

And then.

"Hey."

He asked me,

"Are you going to do it?"

"Do what...?"

"The paper. Are you really going to do it?"

"...".

"That look on your face says you are."

"I have to."

I had to.

The reason I’d worked so hard to become a superhuman had always been because I wanted to be a reporter in the end.

"I have to, somehow."

My answer wasn’t going to change.

"...Ha."

In the end, Gyeongbeom let out a dry laugh.

"Damn bastard."

Only after hearing that did I feel a little relieved. That tone of his meant he was giving up.

And now it was my turn to ask about the thing I’d been wondering.

"...Hey."

"What."

"Did you do this hospital room?"

At a glance, it was a high-end private room.

A room like this, in a one-person ward, would cost a fortune, and I had no money at all right now.

So I’d assumed he’d arranged it too.

Taesung Group. Gyeongbeom’s father was the chairman of one of the biggest companies in Korea.

So naturally he had money. I thought maybe this was his doing too.

But.

"What are you talking about?"

My words made Gyeongbeom’s face crease.

"Why the hell would I do that for you?"

"Huh? You didn’t?"

"No, idiot. If I’d done it without telling you, you’d have thrown a fit. Why would I do that?"

"...".

He didn’t?

Then who had done it?

"...Then what is it? Why am I here?"

When I asked in confusion, Jin Gyeongbeom snorted.

"You’ve become such a big shot, of course they had to treat you accordingly."

"...What kind of horse shit is that?"

What big shot? He was talking nonsense I couldn’t make sense of.

Then Gyeongbeom touched his phone and casually tossed it to me.

"Look."

"...Hm?"

I picked up the phone and checked the screen.

"Huh?"

The moment I saw it, my eyes widened.

"...What is this?"

Above these articles, the first thing that caught my eye was this:

"What the hell."

In the flood of article titles, there were photos of me mixed in.

"What is going on...?"

"What do you mean, what is going on?"

As I stared with shaking eyes, Gyeongbeom snatched the phone back.

"It’s the fallout from what you did."

"...Fallout?"

"You kept running around playing busybody, and now you’ve become some kind of major figure? They’re calling you a hero."

"...".

Hero. That awkward, colorless word left me unable to react.

"Apparently one of the people you saved was a reporter. Thanks to that, all these articles went up. So? How does it feel?"

Jin Gyeongbeom looked at me and said,

"Becoming famous overnight."

"...Am I dreaming...?"

That was the best answer I could manage.

* * *

I stayed blank for a long time. I had to sit there alone in the empty room like that.

"I’m coming back tomorrow, so sit still."

Gyeongbeom had glared at me and said that before leaving. I wanted him not to come, but knowing his personality, he’d probably show up tomorrow too.

"...".

I sat still for a while, then suddenly slapped my own cheek.

Smack!

"Ugh."

My cheek burned. At the very least, that meant it wasn’t a dream.

"...What the hell...?"

If it wasn’t a dream, then it was reality? I couldn’t believe it.

"...".

I looked at my phone again.

The portal site screen was still full of articles about me.

There were plenty about the terror attack itself, but even more focused on me.

[Young Hero.]

[Yeouido’s Savior.]

[A Real Superhuman.]

And so on. It was stuffed with absurd labels.

"...Ha."

After looking at that, I turned the phone off again.

"This is insane."

No wonder the doctors and nurses had been coming in nonstop to run tests.

I’d heard this room had even been arranged directly by the Superhuman Association. And not only that.

'They said the association president is coming tomorrow.'

The president of the Superhuman Association.

One of the biggest names in the current S-class superhuman world was flying in from overseas just to see me.

"...Ugh..."

It was suffocating.

How had this happened? It felt like the world had changed when I opened my eyes.

I swallowed down the heaviness churning in my gut.

"Hoo..."

After letting out a breath and barely calming myself, I reached out with a trembling hand and rubbed the back of my hand.

"...".

There was information there that hadn’t been before.

'Synchronization Rate is up to 3 percent... and Paecheongong...'

So I hadn’t heard wrong after all.

The synchronization rate had risen because I cleared the quest, and what I’d received then was this Paecheongong.

"What even is a quest?"

I’d never heard of a system handing out quests. Let alone rewards?

That was something I had never seen or heard of.

"...A quest..."

And clearing it had raised my synchronization rate.

My synchronization rate had gone up, and in return I’d been granted that power.

Then.

'So that means this is the power of my past life.'

My memory was hazy, but I felt like my body had moved on its own and done something.

I carefully looked at my phone. The upper floors of Choyeon Building had been blown apart.

Was that the terrorist’s doing? Or.

'Did I do that...?'

Could it really have been me? I didn’t know. But if I had, then.

'...What exactly was that?'

Hadn’t I done something incredible?

'EX...'

A rank I had never seen before. A ridiculous power obtained with a synchronization rate of just 3 percent.

Then.

'If it goes higher...'

Would I be able to gain even greater power?

Thump.

My heart beat hard.

'Maybe it’s even above S-class.'

That expectation rose all the way to my throat.

If my guess was right, then.

'...I can do it.'

Becoming a reporter.

'Even revenge.'

It felt like everything might be possible.

"Then what do I need to do?"

First, I had to raise my synchronization rate. If that was how strength increased, then that was the path.

'How do I raise it?'

Normally it should have gone up on its own. At the very least, I’d heard it would fill over the course of a day or two, but looking at this, it didn’t seem like it simply rose by itself.

Then.

'The quest.'

The quest I’d received before. I probably had to clear things like that.

'...Where do I get quests from?'

I had no idea.

Was I supposed to find them? If I searched, would they appear? Or.

'Like last time.'

Would they just drop on their own...?

The moment that thought crossed my mind,

"Oh."

As if on cue, the quest dropped.

Gate. I reacted to that word at once.

'A Gate?'

Any superhuman would know what that meant.

'But...'

It shouldn’t be time for a Gate to open yet, should it?

'A Gate doesn’t reopen for five days once it’s closed.'

Just as I was thinking the timing was off,

"What the..."

The network had turned on by itself.

Ting-a-ling-!

An enormous alarm rang in my ears.

Next to it, I could see a bell-shaped icon with +999 on it.

Apparently these had piled up because I hadn’t read them.

Leaving that aside for the moment,

Posts were flooding in. From the look of it, this wasn’t something that happened often.

'Variant...'

An Anomaly Gate.

Right, this must be an Anomaly Gate.

'I’ve heard of those.'

A Gate that appeared suddenly without matching the scheduled cycle.

People called those variants.

And one of those just showed up like this?

At a time like this?

It was so absurd I was still staring at the Past Life Network when,

The system appeared again.

...

The Gate’s entry indicator.

An alarm that only reincarnators could see.

"Ah..."

At the thing I had wanted so badly to find, my eyes trembled.

[Would you like to enter?]

Right now, only the thing in front of me mattered.

Should I enter the Gate or not? I didn’t hesitate when the question came again.

Press.

I instinctively pressed the system floating in the air.

A place a superhuman had to go. Thinking that, I pressed it, and then

Wooooong-

I felt as if my mind were floating free of my body.

[■ You have chosen to enter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a D-class Gate.]

[■ Stop the dimensional contamination.]

I shut my eyes. I thought back to everything I’d learned about Gates at school.

I had studied it in advance, so it would be fine.

Definitely.

[■ Entering the Gate... zzzt.]

'Huh?'

That was how it should have gone, but

[Zzzzzzt...!]

Static filled my ears.

And then.

'...What?'

What the hell was this crazy shit? I was thrown off by the absurdity of it all, but

And then even more insane words appeared.